Data processing, for instance distributed processing, requires a connection protocol that defines specific flows, and interactions. These flows and interactions convey the intent and results of distributed processing requests. The protocol is necessary for semantic connectivity between applications and processors in a distributed environment. The protocol must define the responsibilities between the participants and specify when flows should occur and their contents. Distributed applications allow operations to be processed over a network of cooperating processors.
Clients and servers send information between each other using that set of protocols. These protocols define the order in which messages can be sent and received, the data that accompanies the messages, remote processor connection flows, and the means for converting data that is received from foreign environments.
The client provides the connection between the application and the servers via protocols. It supports the application end of the connection by: (1) Initiating a remote connection (2) Translating requests from the application into the standardized format, otherwise known as generating, (3) Translating replies from standardized formats into the application format, otherwise known as parsing, (4) Disconnecting the link from the remote processor when the application terminates or when it switches processors.
The server responds to requests received from the client. It supports the server end of the connection by: (1) Accepting a connection (2) Receiving input requests and data and converting them to its own internal format (parsing), (3) Constructing (generating) and sending standardized reply messages and data.
In particular, a distributed data processing architecture can use the Distributed Data Management Architecture (DDM) for providing the standardized format of the messages. DDM provides the conceptual framework for constructing common interfaces for command and reply interchange between a client and a server. Most DDM commands have internal statement counterparts.